November '03

ARISE, SPAIN AND SHINE!

BULLETIN Nº 9 (November '03)

The Bulletin of the Prayer Network for the Evangelisation of Spain

The prophet Elisha said to the widow: "Go round and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few." (2 Kings 4:3)

How does God's heart beat? This, together with the reasons to thank the Lord for all that happened over the summer, is the subject of this special bulletin. The summer campaign reports can be found on a separate page. With these things in mind we will more easily be able to pray over the coming days of prayer for the evangelisation of Spain (31 October to 2 November). Together with the items for thanksgiving this is a longer report than usual and we hope this is an inspiration.

31st October, National Day of prayer for the evangelisation of Spain

How does God's heart beat? How does your heart beat? Here are some of the things you could share with your church or group, so that your heart also beats for them and comes alight with them over these special days of prayer.

"My passion is for the unity of the Christians in Spain. 'In this you they will know that you are my disciples, in that you love one another.' 'Father, may they be one, even as you and I are one.' I pray that the Church work and function as a true body and family, where each one is important and has his function according to his gifts, where noone is less for doing something which appears less worthy... or because he is too young or old. May the Church show the difference and be relevant in society." (Carlota Verdura, leader of the Contra Corriente youth movement.)
"From the start of the Church, in the Acts of the Apostles, right up to now, Spain has yet to have its moment of a GREAT revival or pouring out of the Holy Spirit, such as has been seen in other countries and where the result has been the establishment of hundreds of new churches, filled with thouands of newly converted people. Could it be possible that over the coming years the Church could mobilise, extend and multiply in such a way that a new 'Reformation' could occur, such as has never yet happened in this country? If this is possible, it will begin and continue ONLY through the prayers of His people and the good preparation or His Church. When we pray for such an event, do we pray with the expectancy that God is going to answer our prayer? Are our churches prepared and trained to receive and disciple the 'harvest' which such prayers will bring? My 'heartbeat' is that God do His work in this great land, starting with the preparation or His Church to be able to receive the great harvest which he is going to bring." Tom Courtney (Church Planter, ABWE, member of the leadership team of the Spanish Evangelist's Conference). Tom reminds us that it was precisely on 31st October 1517 that Luther pinned his 95 'Theses' of protest on the church door at Wittenberg, giving the start gun to the Reformation in northern Europe. To this day, many churches celebrate this day as the Day of the Reformation.
"The mobilisation of all believers in all the churches for the work of evangelisation is the kind of revival which we need." (Alfredo Schurch, director of a training program for evangelists, Rescatemos.)
"God is calling His Church to prepare for a very special event which is coming to Spain: a revival, which is already arriving" (Esperanza Carrizosa, coordinator of the youth prayer movement 'Deborah awake'.)
"I believe that we are at the start of something big, something like an unprecedented visitation, a work of the Holy Spirit in Spain and even across the whole world." (Guillermo Vargas, pastor of the Buenas Noticias church in Ibiza and coordinator of the prayer group España Intercede)
" I believe that we as a church need to become more aware that it is God's entire Church which He has raised up to reach the city where we are. Each different congregation needs to understand this essential detail and thus join together with a common objective, to work with a defined strategy and plant churches in neighbourhoods where there are none, but where there is most response to the Gospel. Should we be able to mobilise a good number of believers and work more systematicallytogether, the cities will be reached more quickly and God become known." (Luciano Arévalo, pastor of the El Salvador church in Valencia .)
"Can you imagine millions of people becoming together aware of their sin? What an adventure it will be! May the Lord permit us the privilege of taking part in this miraculous overabundant catch of fish!" (Miguel Diez, president of Remar, the drug rehabilitation ministry.
"The day when we learn not only to have compassion, but also to cry - literally cry- for those around us who are lost; that day we will have made the first step towards revival." Jaime Fernandez, regional evangelical TV director, Galicia and Brethren Assembly elder.

Revival, our heartbeat

Perhaps not all christians share this heartbeat. Plans for a good career, a family or possessions can easily dominate our thought life and become our heartbeat. Or we can look forward to a holiday or retirement and lay all our hopes on the satisfaction that these will bring. Are you such a person? What excites you? Perhaps you are less mundane and yet still are tempted to aim at filling your church, becoming a recognised preacher or have other 'spiritual' goals. God's hearbeat is for the revival of Spain come what may! Do you believe that God can -and will- bring revival to Spain? Does your prayer life reflect this desire? If it were dependent on your prayers do you think He will do it? Are we prepared to pay the price to see it come about: the time in prayer, rejection by society, criticism even from your own, misunderstanding? Are we prepared to invest in this, even to the extent of missing our food, our comforts, our timetable? Are we willing to fast for revival, to make sacrifices of time, money and even our life to see it come to pass, to give God the glory at the end of it all?May God help us to respond positively to these challenging questions!

Revival, a response to a neo-pagan society Daniel del Vecchio has said "Before revival comes, God must raise up intercessors who learn to pray according to the Spirit. We, the pastors, know how to preach, but even many of us don't really know how to pray. Before the revival comes the spirit of grace, petition and weeping. There is a time to weep and a time to dance. Let's not get the time wrong." If this is the time to pray, then this is what we need to be emphasising.

God's heartbeat is for jars, many empty jars. We need to pray that the Lord would be preparing the evangelists who will reach out and the groups and churches to welcome new people in. Thank God that training opportunities abound. Pray for more, but more than that, for peopel to take up those opportunities. Praise the Lord for new models of church, such as G12, cell churches and similar movements, which allow for growth. Praise the Lord and pray also for the many training and fellowship conferences for men, women, young people and so on. An agenda is available in our links which -in Spanish- gives dates of upcoming events which can be covered in prayer. http://www.prayforspain.com/home/index11.html

Spread the heartbeat! pass on this url, print out the letter and pass it to praying friends and to church members. get your church involved. This is a time when the world is seduced by witchcraft and other issues. JK Rowling, writer of Harry Potter has just won the prestigious Príncipe de Asturias Concord prize for getting kids reading, but we need to encourage reading of THE BOOK!

Encouragement from the summer

We have received a good number of reports from the groups and churches which asked for prayer for their summer evangelistic activities. They are so encouraging. Your prayer has seen answers, perhaps not the numbers we are writing of here, but numbers all the same. While we long for more, let's rejoice in the good news of what has been achieved. These reports are available on the Answers page: http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index8.html

Specific ideas for the Day of Prayer

There are already a number of areas though which you might like to pray in the lines above. Start with a presentation of Spain, catching up on information and news. Then move onto thanksgiving and finally into the ares we have mentioned. More ideas can be found on the Day of Prayer page: http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index10.html

Want to do or know more?

We'd be delighted if you would like to join our 24 hour prayer chain for Spain. Join Spaniards around the country and others all across the globe in praying for revival in Spain.

If you would like to know more about the Prayer Network or have any other queries about Pray4Spain or the issues mentiones in this bulletin... or elsewhere on the site, don't hesitate to get in touch. Send us an email from the form below.

May the Lord bless you and encourage you as He uses your concern and prayer for Spain to bring about His purposes.